In response to Paul Smith (who wondered about the effects of the mass media on magical
thinking) and Ken Steele who wondered about the effects of intellectual laziness on
magical thinking), I wrote:
> I have a third culprit: the pervasive belief in the existence of unseen entities and
> forces that transcend the natural world, but that also can have effects in that
> world.
After I sent this, I realized that what we would really want to answer is the question
of why most humans have such beliefs. There are at least two answers: (1) there really
is such a transcendent realm (and the evidence for it cannot often be obtained from the
natural world); (2) there is an extraordinarily strong motivation in most humans to
develop false beliefs about such a realm. What Ken sees as intellectual laziness when
thinking about the paranormal, I see as a rational lack of motivation to investigate
possibilities other than the transcendent ones: if one accepts such beliefs, then
supernatural explanations for certain phenomena appear obvious (and often desirable).
And what Paul sees as the corruptive influence (I hope I am not putting words in his
mouth) of the mass media, I see as the mere reflection of what is commonly accepted by
the majority of people.
This does not mean that the fact that we are "cognitive misers" and the fact that we
are consumers of credulous presentations in the mass media do not further encourage
maintaining and expanding such transcendent beliefs. Instead, I am arguing that the
primary problem is the sheer obviousness (for most people) of the existence of a realm
containing unseen entities and forces that transcend the natural world. If these
entities and forces are outside of the natural world, then one would expect to see
little evidence for their existence in everyday life. In this case, the only evidence
one would need (especially given the undoubted motivation to accept the existence of a
transcendent realm) is the pronouncements of authorities and other "special people" who
claim to have a more intimate contact with that realm.
Thus (to bring this around to teaching), I do not believe that we often can have much
of an effect on students' use of magical thinking (at least, not those students who
take our lower-division courses), especially when it is used to explain examples of
unusual behaviors and mental experiences.
Hoping that this gets to you after my first post, but before midnight (I'm sending this
at 9:00 a.m. MST),
Jeff
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (480) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (480) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626
"The truth is rare and never simple."
Oscar Wilde
"Instead of having 'answers' on a test, they should just call
them 'impressions'. And, if you got a different 'impression',
so what? Can't we all be brothers?"
Jack Handey
